A political analyst, Joe Jackson has chastised the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for calling for the arrest of individuals engaged in political vigilantism.

He noted that the NPP has failed to put the groups in order, a situation which has serious consequences for the well-being of the country.
“There is the need for the NPP to fulfill its promises to members of their vigilante groups in order to deal with the root cause of their actions instead of looking on as they cause destruction.

Mr Jackson’s comment follows a recent attack on the Member of Parliament for Tafo Pankrono, Dr Akoto Osei, by pro-NPP vigilante group, Delta Forces, at a meeting with constituency executives.
“It is not an issue of take them and dump them in jail, what you are seeing is a reaction of people who do not have jobs, people who are marginalised, we are not going to stop by throwing them into jail, what we should do is a systematic way of engagement.

“I take issue with the NPP, the response should not be throw them into jail, the response has to be the party will engage with them and find out ways to let out the frustration,” Mr Jackson stressed.

Speaking on the call made by the NCCE boss, Mr Jackson said it takes more than just disbanding vigilante groups to deal with such issues because the vigilante groups feel political parties owe them based on promises made during election campaign periods.

“They are people who feel in the run-up to elections, the politicians made them several promises, some of them feel they put their lives at risk for the party, those guys are looking for jobs, you made promises, after no jobs are given.
“You cannot be seen on one hand condemning vigilante groups, in the case of the NPP because they are the party in power, on one side be saying I am going to grow my vigilante group, they are sowing seeds of trouble for all of us which poses serious security threat and ought not to be taken lightly.

“Can you imagine an election in 2020 when both parties have vigilante groups trying to protect the ballot box? That is a recipe for chaos and disaster and both parties should be condemned for their positions on the issue,” Mr Jackson warned. -3news.com